Julia Smith Wellner

This past week, we were excited to welcome @wellner.bsky.social and her class, with members of Dr. William Struble's lab from @uh-earth-atm-sci.bsky.social to the GCR! We gave them a behind-the-scenes look at our facilities, collections, and the work we do to support scientific ocean drilling.

New paper out now in EPSL! Pb isotopes and Rb–Sr geochronology via laser ablation of feldspar grains from West Antarctica. This developing method with some added ML clustering spice exposes crustal fragments, tectonic boundaries and metamorphic events hidden under the ice.

EAS profs Brandee Carlson and Julia Wellner each led field trips for the #IMAGE2026 meeting in Houston this week. There may not be rocks in the area, but there is a lot to learn from coastal sediments!

Nice to see another student paper out from IODP Exp379 detailing West Antarctic glacial history from sediment cores. @us-sciod.bsky.social @gcrepository.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In the continuing drip of bad news for US science, this stands out as truly terrible.

Exciting news that the US has a research icebreaker on the way. Notes from today's PRB meeting include that the goal is to have it out in ~5 years (!!!) but that the scope will have to be reduced to fit the budget somehow (???). @policyhound.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

Our latest student field journal is up, and it looks like a fantastic trip! www.uh.edu/nsm/earth-at...

Congratulations @shelfyice.bsky.social and team on this new paper. Those hard won forams had a story to tell! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This Friday, we are happy to host Dr. Kerri Crawford from the Department of Biology and Biochemistry on a talk entitled “Applications of Ecological Theory to Coastal Dune Restorations”

SCAR abstract deadline is coming soon!

“President Trump’s talk of ‘buying’ Greenland is not only an affront to Greenland’s autonomy but also a dangerous distraction from the urgent work of addressing environmental change impacts to US citizens,” the letter reads. eos.org/research-and...

Considering @scar-antarctic.bsky.social this summer in Oslo? We are soliciting submissions for Session S13: Past, present, and future of Antarctic marine grounded basins. See scar2026.org for meeting details. @polarrobs.bsky.social @deformedearth.bsky.social and more are co-chairs. 🧪❄️

Repeated major inland retreat of Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers (West Antarctica) during the Pliocene | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Introduction to Climate Change class field trip to Surfside Beach today, launching an ozone weather balloon. All students helped with launch😊

We've come a long way in our understanding of the Antarctic Ice Sheet history, even while we have a ways to go to know how fast future changes are coming. I'm lucky to be a part of John Anderson's group. See story on his career: naturalsciences.rice.edu/milestones-s... 📷 Linda Welzenbach

A clear summary of much of what we have learned about Thwaites Glacier, and what we still need to learn.

The NBP has finished her last USAP cruise. Not the outcome we’ve been hoping to see. I’m of course glad that researchers are being supported by substitute vessels. But, it’s not clear how this will work in the long run.

Nice synopsis of #IODP379 #AmundsenSea research that examines the early #Pliocene record of warming of West Antarctica, using sediment cores from deep sea @passchier.bsky.social @wellner.bsky.social #JOIDESResolution

University of Houston students had the chance to participate in a marine mapping short course that included field work and hands on exercises. www.uh.edu/nsm/earth-at...

CDC scientists receive a heroes welcome after walking out today.

Just after publication, an NSF spokesperson responded to @science.org confirming the plan: "NSF is terminating the lease of the research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer in FY 2026. NSF has also begun the process to identify vessels and partnerships to support marine science. " We're updating the story.

🥼❄️

Thanks to @voosen.me for helping spread the word about this potential major blow to U.S. polar science. @carlosmoffat.com and I are grateful to all the people who have shared their concerns by signing our letter. Keep reaching out to protect the USAP icebreaker---and science in general.

Are you a scientist that wants to support the Antarctic marine research community? And coastal access? And access to USAP stations? See below to join 120+ of our peers in fighting to keep the NBP.

Nominate an Expert for the SCAR Physical Sciences Group Submit nominations by Mon, July 28, to Lindsay Moller (LMoller@nas.edu). Include candidate’s name, affiliation, area of expertise, and brief description why the nominee is appropriate. Self nominations are welcome. usscar.org/news/nominat...

This is more than making lemonade after being given a bad sea-ice field season. Nice work, Sandra!

Maybe good news for those of us hoping to see a new research icebreaker built someday?

"[Research universities] are behind the breakthroughs that shape daily lives. Undermining them doesn’t just jeopardize higher education, it threatens national and global strength," writes University of Rhode Island president Marc B. Parlange in a new #ScienceEditorial. scim.ag/4ky2K4I

How bad will it be? Catastrophic. Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come. But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget. Speak up now before it is too late. (inflation adjusted $-s below)

With a deadline Monday, I’m wondering how much of my weekend to spend on my proposal? Should I keep working nights and days off scrambling for a piece of the remaining pie? This is not auspicious timing for keeping my motivation going.

Tune in to the @wclivestream.bsky.social bright and early tomorrow to learn about how and why scientists use robots to observe our blue planet! www.youtube.com/@wclivestrea... 🧪 🌊 🌍

A poignant picture: NSF staff overcome obstacles to mark agency's 75th anniversary. www.science.org/content/arti...

I’m currently in the field with grad students. We will lose a generation of highly trained individuals if we can’t pay them or keep the labs open. Hard to keep morale up on long days when this type of news comes in.

In defiance of the Supreme Court & without any evidence, the White House claims that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a “terrorist,” who was “sent to the right place.” This is a blatant LIE. He is innocent. He cannot be allowed to rot in an El Salvadorian jail. He must be brought home.

I wrote about Trump cuts at the ends of the Earth, to NSF support of science in Antarctica. 🧪 “We’re all trying to find other ways of doing our research,” says @leighstearns.bsky.social, “because they are not the stable entity.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A reminder that if the government can send migrants to a prison camp without any due process, it can send U.S. citizens there, too. I know because this happened to me and my family in 1942.

If the Supreme Court decides that the government can "erroneously" disappear you off the street to a foreign torture prison, and that federal courts have no power to do anything about it, that is, in a meaningful way, Pretty Much It www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...

This is my district. Taxation—and tariffs and all the rest—-without representation.

"A terrified young student, snatched off the street by a masked police force taken thousands of miles across the country without anyone knowing. It is as flatly authoritarian as anything we have ever seen in this country," says @chrislhayes.bsky.social on Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk's detention.

Murphy: "If we continue to observe norms, if we continue to engage in business as usual, this democracy could be gone. I don't think we have a year to save American democracy. I think the way the president is acting ... puts out democracy at immediate risk."